Kickboxers set to share the silver screen

A gang of Belfast-based kickboxers are bound for Hollywood glory after starring with cinema legend Liam Neeson and rising star Cillian Murphy in a blockbuster film directed by Oscar winner Neil ‘The Crying Game’ Jordan.

The 10 fighters, all from the ProKick Gym in Belfast, shot their scenes for ‘Breakfast on Pluto’ last week in Belfast’s Crumlin Road prison.

The kickboxers scene is set in a bomb-making factory in the early 1970's. In it, they attempt to use their martial arts skills to fight off actor Cillian Murphy – the star of 28 Days Later – who is dressed as a transvestite.

“It was an amazing experience,” said Irish kickboxing figurehead Billy Murray – who worked with Neil Jordan on choreography of the scenes. “We spent a full day on the set, working out moves for the guys. We were all a little nervous meeting a big name Hollywood director like Neil Jordan, but he was brilliant – really enthusiastic about what were doing and very encouraging and calming for us on our first major film set.

“We were all kitted out as early 70s IRA men in dark mirror shades, black hats and combat jackets. We then had to fight Cillian Murphy who had a special invincible spray! I’m sure it’ll all make perfect sense when the film is finished. I even had a few lines to say. It was a great thrill to work on the film. It’s just a shame we didn’t get to work on the day with Liam Neeson.”

Murray also revealed that Jordan was a fan of kickboxing and was keen to encourage his son to take up the sport.
It also looks like the kickboxers’ screen debut could lead to more cinema appearances.

“ProKick’s reputation lead Neil Jordan’s casting team to seek them out for the roles,” a spokesperson for the director said. “Neil was not disappointed. He was very impressed by Billy Murray and his kickboxers and if he needs similar scenes shot again, ProKick will be first place he looks.”

The film is set in Ireland and England during the 1950's - 1970's and is about a boy whose father is a parish priest but who is abandoned by both parents and raised by a foster mother. He heads to London to find his natural mother but reconciles with his father.

Neil Jordan is Ireland’s most successful director. To many he is best known for hugely successful ‘The Crying Game’ in 1992, for which he won a Best Screenplay Oscar. But since then, he has worked with some of the biggest names in cinema. He directed Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt on ‘Interview With a Vampire’ 10 years ago and more recently worked with Liam Neeson and Julia Roberts on the biopic of Irish revolutionary hero ‘Michael Collins’.

‘Breakfast In Pluto’ will be released in 2005.

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